80
Good old puzzle-solving Picross is a stepchild of crosswords, Sudoku and coloring books – but with nicer creations and a couple of interesting new ideas, what significantly deepen the gameplay and fun hand in hand with addictiveness.
90
Taking full use of the touch screen and 3D capabilities of Nintendo's handheld, this new chapter in the series is well presented and reaches that right balance between simplicity and challenge. Something for everyone who enjoys having a good mental stimulation in the form of a puzzle game.
90
Perfectly tuned difficulty curve, achievements, unique challenges, over 300 puzzles and gameplay model ideal for sessions that last either 5 minutes or 3 hours. [01/2017, p.75]
10
Man, this game is FANTASTIC. Perfect follow-up to the original title on the DS, which I loved a lot too, the newly introduced color system allows the player to develop a different and renovated approach to the world of 3d Picross puzzles, and has a lot of new challenges to offer. Masterpiece!
9
A must have for puzzle and Picross fans. It's fun, relaxing, addicting, challenging if you try the hard difficulty, it has over 300 puzzles and hours of gameplay.
9
3D: Round 2 is an inventive follow-up to the DS original that expands on the gameplay whilst refining elements from the original to provide a compelling package for fans of the puzzle genre, regardless if you are a Picross master or not. ('+' refers to a good element about the game; '=' refers to a mediocre element; '-' refers to a bad element) + The gameplay is refined and expanded from the original, now adding both blue and orange cubes that have to be correctly identified and filled in before a puzzle is finished, unlike the original. The issue of puzzles being hard to track is fixed with the addition to mark cubes (an element only just added to the 2D Picross games). Furthermore, the tedious removal of rows/columns with a '0' on them is alleviated with the Bomb feature, which removes them all in only a few seconds. + The game is well geared towards both fans of the original and newcomers, with 3 difficulty settings and a Hint feature, allowing anyone to complete puzzles and make progress with the title. + The variety of puzzles is decent, with many different objects making up the large amount of content on offer, including much more Japanese objects than before, which is a positive. + The game has a large amount of replay value, as the game has a ranking system determined on how fast you complete a puzzle, the amount of errors you make, and the difficult at which you chose to play it. Better medals are offered for higher scores, and these help unlock more puzzles in the game. + The aesthetics are good, with nicer, higher-quality backgrounds and more interesting musical themes accompanying the action. = The gameplay can get stale if played for too long. The occasional 'Construction Challenge' or 'Time Trial' puzzles appear now and again, however, these don't help too much. - The removal of a puzzle creator is disappointing, but understandable, as the removal of said feature has allowed for more puzzles to be included in the main game. 9/10
Picross 3D: Round 2
3DS
Released On:
Sep 1, 2016
Metascore
Generally Favorable
86
User score
Generally Favorable
7.8
My Score
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All Platforms
Metascore
Generally Favorable
86
94% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
6% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Sep 9, 2016
95
Much like its predecessor, Picross 3D: Round 2 comes late in the system’s life to provide dozens upon dozens of hours of glorious puzzle goodness. It’s a charming experience from the moment you first crack a block, and the additions and changes in Round 2 make this even better than what came before.
Dec 5, 2016
90
The smartest puzzle game ever continues with Round 2, which is even better than the first. There is a great amount of content and there is a new depth to the puzzles thanks to adding two colors. Puzzle games do not get any better than this.
User score
Generally Favorable
7.8
80% Positive
37 Ratings
37 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
20% Negative
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
Sep 29, 2021
10
Man, this game is FANTASTIC. Perfect follow-up to the original title on the DS, which I loved a lot too, the newly introduced color system allows the player to develop a different and renovated approach to the world of 3d Picross puzzles, and has a lot of new challenges to offer. Masterpiece!
Dec 12, 2016
10
Definitely my favourite puzzle game right now. A step up from Picross 3D. The new mechanic with blue and orange boxes adds a new layer of complexity to picross solving. The presentation is absolutely gorgeous
Nov 30, 2016
90
Nintendo and HAL labs could easily have just made the same game with more puzzles, and nobody would have been upset by that. Instead they’ve upped the complexity, creating a damned near perfect sequel - and something genuinely unmissable for fans of logic puzzles.
Sep 18, 2016
90
A gem of a game that's chock full of charm in its presentation. From its music to the reveals in puzzle solutions, the game is an audio and visual delight. As a puzzle game, it's wonderfully challenging with options to tone down the difficulty and tailor the experience.
Sep 9, 2016
85
This game is comfort food, and it's a dish I won't mind having every single day.
Jan 12, 2017
80
Good old puzzle-solving Picross is a stepchild of crosswords, Sudoku and coloring books – but with nicer creations and a couple of interesting new ideas. [Issue #270]
Dec 21, 2016
70
With Picross 3D: Round 2, there's nothing here to set the world on fire, but it's still an extremely solid, addictive, and enjoyable puzzle title that will keep players engaged for plenty of time and they will have lots of fun while doing so.
Nov 28, 2016
10
Picross 3D: Round 2 deserves much more praise than it gets. It has amazing review scores, but even the announcement of it in the Nintendo Direct was less than 15 seconds long. If you have the money to buy this game, get it. The franchise needs all the attention it can get for another sequel.
Sep 19, 2016
10
ZERO USER REVIEWS?!? FOR A PERFECT 10 ****?!? Allow me to be the first lowly common man to laud this masterpiece. That soothing SNES-SimCity-esque soundtrack. The snap of breaking blocks akin to cracking the top of a creme brulee. The bloops and bleeps of marking cubes only to eventually paint them a permanent shade of mango or cobalt. So many satisfying elements that combine to make of the most well-rounded puzzle games I've ever played. Round 2 picks up where the brilliant Picross 3D left off, only this time we are introduced to a new mechanic: the blue and orange blocks. This new feature is a welcome addition and adds just enough of a twist to make it feel like an actual sequel instead of "Picross 3D: More Puzzles." If you've played a Picross title before don't hesitate to switch the difficulty over to Hard the first chance you get. The two lower difficulty settings are simply too easy unless this is your introduction to the game. If you HAVEN'T played a Picross title before, this is a great starting point. If you keep the game on one of the easier settings you will get the hang of solving puzzles in no time. The best part of having multiple difficulty levels is once you finish the game on easy, you can switch to medium or hard and have a completely new experience playing all the way through a second time. I've seen people say that $30 is too expensive for a title like this but I think it's perfectly justified. Even if you're completing the puzzles as fast as possible, it'll take at least 30 hours to completely clear everything. This is my first user review. I created an account at Metacritic simply to heap praise on this title. It's criminal how overlooked this title is and will continue to be.
Jan 26, 2017
9
A must have for puzzle and Picross fans. It's fun, relaxing, addicting, challenging if you try the hard difficulty, it has over 300 puzzles and hours of gameplay.
Sep 25, 2016
0
Boring as crap tbh. There is absolutely no replay value and the unlockables are horrible. No motivation to play this garbage. The game is also filled with bugs. 0/10.
SummaryA fresh new layer of paintand strategy! Chip away at a three-dimensional block puzzle to reveal the object hidden within. Only this time, blocks can be painted with two colors of paint to mold detailed shapes. Enjoy more than 300 puzzles at the Cafe or even tap compatible amiibo figures (sold separately) to solve 10 more puzzles hidin... Read More
Rated Efor Everyone
